watercolor and things that fall out of my fingers, art, watercolor, words. I sell stuff too! Email me at martha@marthakeim.com

Water Soluble Ink: The Ultimate Sketching Kit?

Earlier this spring, a bit before drawing on the street was seasonable here in Montreal, I spent an afternoon sketching in the greenhouse at the MTL Botanical Garden.

Looking back in time, my location drawing has been a fairly steady transition from black and white line drawing, through line and wash, and towards painting on location. Mostly I see this as a natural progression. An ‘improvement’ from drawing towards painting. I think most people would feel that paintings are somehow more challenging. A ‘higher art’ than drawing?

There’s some biological reason behind it I’m sure. A painting, being tonal, can tap into the eye-to-brain function and convince us we’re looking at reality. But, oddly, that’s why I love line work. Because it’s not such a straightforward illusion of reality. There’s something about an ‘unfinished’ sketch that really appeals to me. It’s partially the speed of execution (they are more fun for…